About
Biography
Bonnie Isaac is the collection manager for the Section of Botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. She manages the museum's herbarium, which ranks among the top 25 herbaria in North America.
Isaac received her MS in biological sciences from Youngstown State University in 2000. She was awarded the International Diploma in Herbarium Techniques from The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England in 1988. Isaac completed her BS in biological sciences with an emphasis in plant sciences from Youngstown State University in 1987.
Isaac is the president of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania and an adjunct research scientist for the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a past chair of the Pennsylvania Vascular Plant Technical Committee and past recording secretary for the Pennsylvania Rare Plant Forum.
Isaac focuses on the ecology and phytogeography of rare plants, floristics, and herbarium techniques. Her research established that a plant once thought to be in danger of extinction in Pennsylvania, Prenanthes crepidinea, was actually thriving, allowing the plant to be removed from the state’s endangered species list. Other states with populations of Prenanthes crepidinea, a member of the dandelion family commonly called rattlesnake-root, have since worked with Isaac to determine the status of the plant in their regions.
Recent Blog Posts
Giant Pumpkin Seed Harvest
By Bonnie Isaac There was a giant pumpkin on display in the courtyard at the museum as part of We Are Nature: Living in the Anthropocene. The farmer who grew the 2,090.5 pound …Read More »
Indiana, Pennsylvania: Christmas Tree Capital of the World
Did you know that Pennsylvania is one of the top states for Christmas tree farms? In fact, southwestern Pennsylvania’s very own Indiana County is known as the “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.” …Read More »
Collected on this Day in 1928
Are you decking your halls with boughs of holly? This specimen of American holly (Ilex opaca) was collected by M.L. Bomhard in Mandeville, Louisiana on December 8, 1928. The holly revered for its …Read More »
Publications
Publications
Heberling, J.M. & Isaac, B.L. (2017) Herbarium specimens as exaptations: new uses for old collections. American Journal of Botany 104(7): 963-965. [online - open access] [Appendix S1 - Unanticipated uses of herbarium specimens with bibliography]
Isaac, B.L. 2010. A Phytogeographical and Ecological Study of Prenanthes crepidinea Michaux (Asteraceae). Annals of Carnegie Museum 78(4): 325-336.
Grund, S.P. & B.L. Isaac. 2007. Taxonomy and Lectotypification of Appalachian Blue Violet. Castanea 72:58-61.
Coxe, R., M.J. Haywood, C.M. Morton, B.L. Isaac & J.A. Isaac. 2005. Checklist of the vascular plants of Greene County, Pennsylvania. Sida 21(3):1829-1859.
Isaac, B., C.M. Morton, J. Kartesz and J. Isaac. 2005. Additions to and noteworthy records for the vascular flora of Pennsylvania. Castanea 70(1): 70-73.
Isaac, B.L., C.F. Chuey & J.A. Isaac. 2004. The Genus Ophioglossum in Pennsylvania. Bartonia 62:45-54.
Morton, C.M., J. Kartesz, B. Isaac and R. Coxe. 2004. Additions to and noteworthy records for the vascular flora of West Virginia. Sida 21(1): 481-485.
Isaac, B.L. 2000. A phytogeographical and ecological study of Prenanthes crepidinea (Asteraceae). MS Thesis, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH.
Isaac, B.L. and J.A. Isaac. 2000. Herbarium and field studies of Pennsylvania plants of special concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Botany & Natural Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Thompson, S.A., B.L. Isaac and F.H. Utech. 1999. Herbarium and field studies of Pennsylvania plants of special concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Botany & Natural Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Thompson, S.A., B.L. Isaac and F.H. Utech. 1998. Herbarium and field studies of Pennsylvania plants of special concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Botany & Natural Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Isaac, B.L. and J.A. Isaac. 1997. Noteworthy Collections: Pennsylvania. Castanea 62:131-132.
Chuey, C.F. and B.L. Isaac. 1996. The Asteraceae of Ohio - Missed records. The Michigan Botanist 35 (3 & 4): 115-118.
Thompson, S.A. and B.L. Isaac. 1996. Herbarium and Field Studies of Pennsylvania Plants of Special Concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Botany & Natural Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Thompson, S.A. and B.L. Isaac. 1995. Herbarium Studies of Pennsylvania Plants of Special Concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Environmental Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Isaac, B.L. 1994. [Review] New Jersey Ferns and Fern Allies. Annals of Carnegie Museum 63:263.
Thompson, S.A. and B.L. Isaac. 1994. Herbarium Studies of Pennsylvania Plants of Special Concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Environmental Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Thompson, S.A. and B.L. Isaac. 1993. Final Report to the Wild Resource Botany Fund; Herbarium Studies of Pennsylvania Plants of Special Concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Environmental Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Thompson, S.A. and B.L. Isaac. 1993. Progress Report to the Wild Resource Botany Fund; Herbarium Studies of Pennsylvania Plants of Special Concern. Submitted by Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Harrisburg, PA: Dept. of Environmental Resources, Wild Resource Botany Fund.
Isaac, B. and C.F. Chuey. 1992. Distribution of the Pteridophyte Flora of Brooke County, West Virginia by District. Laitsch, No. 5: 3-6.
Isaac, B. and C.F. Chuey. 1992. Pteridophyte Flora of Forest County, Pennsylvania by Township. Laitsch, No. 5: 7-11.
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